Allison Waken

So back in the summer I was really sick and diagnosed with an auto immune disorder that didn’t quite fit all of my symptoms. I decided to start researching like crazy on my own and thought that my symptoms (although very extreme) along with a lot of other things I had been living with (that I didn’t think were symptoms at all) sounded a lot like a lot of the things I had been reading about Celiac disease. Fortunately the way you treat Celiac is by excluding gluten from your diet - pretty easy to do on my own!

I researched all the hidden words and places I might find gluten and started a gluten free diet. On about day 10 of excluding gluten I woke up feeling like a completely different person. My body felt refreshed and new, my mouth was no longer tingling like it had been for months after my last huge canker sore breakout, and my mind felt like a fog was lifted. I called Jared that morning and was telling him how amazing I felt. From then on I decided that gluten would never again be a part of my diet and I’ve never looked back.

I haven’t been oficially diagnosed with Celiac. Since I haven’t been ingesting gluten the simple blood test won’t work and I just haven’t gone in to get the DNA test or small intestine biopsy but really all of that would be for insurance purposes. For me, my results are enough. The thought of ever having to go through the weeks of agony like before is enough to make any gluten containing product seem repulsive to me.

The biggest challenge is eating out. We’ve found a lot of local restaurants in our area and I’ve started carrying snacks in my purse just in case. Other than that the transition has been pretty easy for us. Jared has done all the cooking and just started making meals that were easy to make gluten free or were already gluten free to begin with. I’ve tried to include a lot more fresh fruits and vegetables in my diet anyway and those are all already gluten free!

1 in 133 people are estimated to have Celiac disease and even more are sensitive to gluten (it is very hard for our bodies to digest anyway). If you or your kids are having ANY sort of symptom - digestive or not- that could possibly be linked to gluten, I highly encourage you to get tested, talk to your Dr, or try out a gluten free diet yourself. Check out the Celiac Disease Foundation for more info too if you are interested.